The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2025–2026
Hera's launch film 'Age Your Way' casts real seniors as stars — D&AD 2026 Yellow Pencil
SixTwentySix launched Hera with an editorial film starring three real, vibrant older adults — aging as life continuing — winning D&AD's Casting Yellow Pencil.
Hera
What it had to solve
Hera, a US tech-enabled care-coordination service helping older adults age at home, was entering a category that leaned clinical and care-forward. It needed an emotional foothold from day one, without the flat 'healthcare vibes' that flattened competitors' storytelling.
How it works
Hera launched in 2025 as a tech-enabled care service for older adults aging at home, coordinating everything a doctor's visit doesn't cover — specialists, medication, equipment, insurance navigation. Its category mostly told clinical, care-forward stories, so the brand's first decision was creative: show what aging actually looks like when it isn't a problem to be managed.
SixTwentySix's 'Age Your Way' film followed three vibrant seniors whose lives challenged advertising's default aging tropes. Rather than documentary-style interviews, the team shot editorial-style composed portraits and let unscripted moments leak through — the balance of intention and spontaneity meant personality led the storytelling. Casting director Sindi Stathi and director Savannah O'Leary treated the participants like top-tier talent, and the production budget went disproportionately into casting and post-production.
The result was a launch identity built on dignity — 'aging as life continuing, not life ending' — that stood out in a category of clinical sameness. The work earned a D&AD 2026 Yellow Pencil in Casting/Film, and the brand behind it reported 1,000+ families served with 95% retention within its first year, followed by a $27M Series A led by Bain Capital Ventures in June 2026.
Why it lands
- Casting real older adults rather than actors made the film's claim about real life impossible to fake.
- Editorial-style portraiture imported fashion-film craft into healthcare, where the category default was clinical.
- Unscripted moments kept the film from becoming a glossy performance — personality, not staging, led.
- Dignity-first storytelling created a launch memory that feature lists and 'care-forward' clichés could not.
What it did
The film gave Hera a distinctive, emotionally resonant market entry anchored in dignity rather than decline, and won a D&AD 2026 Yellow Pencil for Casting/Film. A year after launch the company reported 1,000+ families served with 95% retention and raised a $27M Series A.
What you can take
In a category that defaults to clinical reassurance, dignity is the differentiator: cast the real people the product serves, treat them like stars, and the film becomes the promise.
Since then
Hera's launch film became the brand's calling card: 'Age Your Way' won a D&AD 2026 Yellow Pencil (Casting/Film) and is archived on D&AD's awards site. The company continued to build the positioning behind it — senior-care experts called 'Heroes' backed by an AI platform, Juno — and in June 2026 announced a $27M Series A led by Bain Capital Ventures, reporting more than 1,000 families served with 95% retention and plans to expand from New York and New Jersey into five more states.
Sources
- Hera - Age Your Way — D&AD Awards archive
- SixTwentySix — Hera: Age Your Way
- D&AD Awards Winners 2026
- Hera Raises $27 Million to Manage Senior Care Beyond the Doctor's Office
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